Family:
The killdeer is a slender shorebird similar to the ringed plover but with long wings and tail. It has a large, round head, big eyes, and a short bill.
The upperparts are a warm brown while the underparts are white with a black, double breast band. The rump is rusty-orange which is conspicuous in flight. On the head, it has white patches and a distinctive white stripe above the eye. Males and females resemble each other, but the female’s breast bands tend to be browner.
To protect its eggs and chicks, kildeers perform ‘broken-wing’ displays, fluttering along the ground to feign injury, to lure predators away from the nest.
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Kildeers eat mostly insects like beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and flies, as well as spiders, worms, centipedes, snails, and crayfish. It will also supplement its diet with seeds.
Killdeers are widespread and common across the United States, southern Canada, and Mexico. It travels south for winer to Central America, the West Indies, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
It is found on open ground with little vegetation such as pastures, arable fields, sandbars, and mudflats, as well as in urban areas including golf courses, car parks, and large lawned areas.
